Ancient Demon of Thunder Hall

From World of Charun

The Irintharin of the Kingdom of Thunder Hall brought great trouble upon themselves when they found an ore of gold beneath their mountain in the end of the Second Age. They worked day and night with mining the precious metal, barely eating or sleeping. Some of them say the Gods brought the nightmare upon them for letting their desire for wealth neglect even the deities, others say it was bad luck, for the deepest pits beneath the mountain were not uninhabited - one of the worst terrors and most fearsome opponents that have ever walked the world of mortals was to be unleashed.

An ancient creature from the Abyss slumbered there, bound to the prime material plane, banished from the depths of the lower planes. So old and venerable was this beast in its evil that few of its kind were even found in the Abyss anymore. Some claim that it was a Demon Prince who lost his realm in battle and was cast from the planes of evil - others say that such evil could only be given birth to by the Nameless One, vile god of evil, and it was one of the great outbreaks of malice he had planned to unleash into the mortal world.

When the beast was awakened it brought down its ferocity on the Irintharin mining there, killing all with ease. It continued towards the very city itself along the narrow tunnels, tearing down walls in order to fit through. Hundreds of Mórail were sent to halt it with meagre success. It would have been the end of the Kingdom of Thunder Hall, and perhaps even several surrounding Irintharin realms, if the clerics of the realm would have failed in their attempt to halt it through powerful prayers. They did not manage to kill the beast, but they did bind it through prayer, chaining it into a circle of divine force.

The mines beneath the lower levels of the kingdom were sealed and the beast raging in them forgotten as the centuries passed. Truth turned to tales and tales turned to legend, but it was all to change.

Almost a thousand years later, in 787 III , a huge coalition of Urmen and other foul creatures launched an attack on Thunder Hall from beneath, quickly gaining control over the lower levels where the Irintharin buried their dead. The lower mines were overrun soon thereafter. The Irintharin made several attempts to reclaim the lower levels and for a while it looked as if they would succeed. They drove their foes through the corridors all the way to the Halls of the Ancients, the oldest of their burial sites, where they would soon be forced to flee for their lives.

The greatest terror imaginable had stepped out from the legends into tales and further into reality, now taking form before them. The ancient beast had been released from its chains and it fought alongside the Urmen. A few paladins and Irintharin defenders held the line, facing certain death, so their brethren could escape. The passage leading down to the Halls of Ancients was immediately blocked and clerics began preparing in case the beast would attack the upper levels - this did not happen. It continued to dwell in the lower levels.

The Irintharin more or less gave up on reclaiming the lower levels, knowing the beast below was too strong. Skirmishes with the attackers still took place regularly, but the Irintharin succeeded in driving them back each time, until the 908 III when a force to great led by the Ancient Demon charged the upper levels and conquered Thunder Hall.

No one has visited the fallen kingdom since, but it is believed that the Ancient Demon still roams Thunder Hall with his Urmen vassals doing its bidding.